It's different, darker and a little bit disappointing
Advance Wars: Dark Conflict is the second Nintendo DS game in a long running series dating back to the Nintendo Famicon. Dark Conflict is a break with tradition, however, as it does away with the colourful, cutesy depiction of war which was present in the other games. Gone are the cartoony Commanding Officers, cheerful music and lighthearted storyline. It's a drastic change, but is it enough to breath fresh life into a series which was starting to become repetitive? And does it manage to match the high quality which is generally expected from an Advance Wars game?
Graphics wise, the game is far better than previous Advance Wars titles. The tired old unit sprites have been retired and larger, sharper sprites have been added so you no longer have to wonder why an anti-aircraft gun looks more like a forklift. The battle animations have also been redone, although some people may be disappointed that the battles are no longer in pseudo 3D, but rather in a Paper Mario style 2D. While it doesn't show off a lot of the Nintendo DS' power, it fits the darker theme perfectly and it is sadistically satisfying to see larger units like Battleships slowly crumble into paper thin pieces (like Paper Mario being set on fire, perhaps). One thing that is a bit disappointing about the new unit sprites is that there is not a lot of variation between units from different armies. In the other Advance Wars games units from different nations looked drastically different which as well as making them look better, made it easier to identify them. In Dark Conflict, due to the lack of variation (although there are still 2 distinct styles) as well as the darker colour scheme used, I found it different to tell which units were mine and which were my opponents. Regardless, the graphics are very good and are one of the stronger parts of the game.
One of the weaker parts is the storyline. It's not just that it's filled with clichés (yet another girl with amnesia) or bad plot points (a disease that turns people into flowers), it's that the presentation of the game doesn't support the story well enough. By that I don't mean the darker theme – although the story does get a bit light hearted at times during "tactics talks" it is still mature enough to suit the new graphical style, but the actual storyline is delivered so poorly. The dialogue sequences are long, boring and tempting to skip. Characters just stand there as the text appears, without changing gestures or even moving their mouths. There are some potentially powerful moments in the storyline, but the dry presentation never lets it give you an emotional response, even when a main character dies. I can forgive poor story presentation in the earlier Advance Wars games but this time around when it plays such a major part it comes off as a massive letdown.
The audio is still pretty good, though. There aren't as many COs this time around so some of the musical themes can tend to drag, especially in the story mode where you only get to use about five different COs, but they are nevertheless of a high quality. Most of the themes have a hard rock feel about them so they won't be to everyone's tastes although, in contrast, some of the other music feels like it was lifted straight from Intelligent System's other strategy franchise, Fire Emblem. Sound effects have always been a highlight of Advance Wars games and Dark Conflict is no exception. From the blast of a cannon to the drop of a bomb, all the sounds of war are rendered perfectly.
Not only have the graphics, characters and music been changed, but the classic strategy gameplay has also been significantly altered. Well, not significantly – it's still the same Advance Wars deep down, but it does do some things a bit differently. For starters, your CO can now board a unit, strengthening it and the surrounding units. Any damage dealt to your opponent within this area (the CO zone) will charge your CO meter, eventually allowing you to use a CO Power. Now, CO powers are nothing new to the Advance Wars series, but because they don't just charge automatically anymore they can be seen as a bit underpowered. This is not necessarily a bad thing though, as now with the omission of Super Powers, Dual Strikes and the watering down of CO powers the game is a lot more balanced and purely strategic. Now you have to think about whether to use a CO power or keep your meter filled high to give you officer a larger area of influence, adding another layer of depth to an already strategic game.
While the CO side of things may be more balanced, Intelligent Systems must have forgotten to do this to the units, introducing newer, overpowered ones such as the Anti-tank and Ship Planes. The learning curve is also steeper than ever, with a massive jump from the tutorial missions to the actually challenging ones.
Perhaps the biggest and most welcome change Dark Conflict makes is the addition of online play. Advance Wars is a perfect fit for Nintendo Wi-fi play, with the ability to play other people and trade maps without having to worry about the infamous friend code system. It may seem a bit too much of a slow paced game for online play but time limits have been added, so you don't have to wait insane amounts of time for your online opponent to make his/her next move. There's always the threat of a bad sport dropping out, though I've yet to have anyone drop out of a match with me (probably because everyone I've ever played has beaten me). Overall, online play is an excellent addition to the game, although it does come at a cost. Offline modes such as Combat and Survival have been removed, so the game doesn't hold as much offline staying power as the other Advance Wars. Regardless, the single player story mode is lengthy, and if you use Wi-fi play, the game can theoretically last forever.
Even if you didn't really enjoy other Advance Wars games, you should still try Dark Conflict simply because it's so different to the other games. The sharp difficulty curve may scare off some newcomers to the series though, and if you don't have a wireless internet connection you're better off with Dual Strike. Regardless, Dark Conflict is a great game, not the best in the series, but it is a fresh approach which at least deserves a try.